The risk of nasopharyngeal cancer when eating a lot of salted fish

Eat too much salted fish from a young age, eat a lot of preserved or fermented foods; Oral sex . increases the risk of nasopharyngeal cancer.

>>>Essential knowledge about throat cancer

Nasopharyngeal cancer in our country has a high rate, ranking first in early neck cancers, ranking fifth in general cancers. The disease can occur at any age but is particularly common in men, aged 40 to 60.

Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Minh, Department of Otolaryngology, Chengdu International Hospital said that tobacco was ranked as the leading cause of nasopharyngeal cancer in the past. Recent studies reveal that the act of oral sex is at high risk of causing this devastating disease.

The oral sex has a lot of potential risks of venereal diseases such as gonorrhea, syphilis, papilloma, warts, etc. The risk of nasopharyngeal cancer is at an alarming rate, up to 340% in those who have oral sex with 6 or more partners.

According to Dr. Ngoc Minh, nasopharyngeal cancer occurs when cancer cells grow from the tissues in the nasopharynx, the area behind the nasal cavity and the upper part of the throat. The exact cause of nasopharyngeal cancer is not yet confirmed, but Epstein Barr virus (EBV) is considered an important factor in the development of the disease.

Risk factors for nasopharyngeal cancer include:

Eating too much salted fish since childhood, eat a lot of preserved or fermented foods because these contain carcinogenic Nitrosamine.

Smoking cigarettes, eating lots of hot cooking foods like frying, grilling .

Factors of family trends, those who have close relationships with patients are at higher risk of developing cancer than those without close relationships.

EBV infection is spread through saliva and genital secretions.

In the United States, 50% of 5-year-olds and 90-95% of adults show signs of being infected before. Children are easily infected with EBV as soon as their antibodies disappear. Many children have EBV asymptomatic, difficult to distinguish from mild, transient diseases in children.

Eating more preserved or fermented foods increases the risk of nasopharyngeal cancer.(Photo: healingenergiesinc.com)

Early warning symptoms

1. Nosebleed

One of the earliest symptoms of throat cancer is nosebleeds. Inhaling and exhaling through the mouth with blood is easily misdiagnosed or ignored. The final stage may cause excessive, continuous bleeding.

2. Stuffy nose

Like the symptoms of sinusitis such as nasal congestion, headache. It may be that the first side of the nose is blocked, when the tumor gets bigger, the two sides are blocked.

3. Tinnitus and hearing loss

If tinnitus, hearing loss, pain in the ear, ear discharge should also be careful. The development of a tumor growing on the atrial speaker is a line from the nasopharynx to the ear that causes symptoms of tinnitus and mild deafness.

4. Headache

Usually due to intracranial invasion, brain compression and cranial nerves cause headaches and paralysis of cranial nerves. The paralysis of cranial nerves is easy to miss and misdiagnosed with other headaches such as sinusitis, neurasthenia. At the end, severe headache, vomiting, dizziness.

5. Floating lymph nodes in the neck

According to statistics, adenocarcinoma of the neck area accounts for 40-85%. Because the nasopharynx has a rich lymphatic structure, cancer cells easily metastasize the lymph nodes. The higher the number of lymph nodes, the faster the speed, the hardened and non-painful lymph nodes, at the end of the stage will be fixed adhesion. Causing deformation of the neck and face.

6. Craniofacial syndrome

The later stage nasopharyngeal cancer will cause syndromes related to the brain and cranial nerves such as strabismus, loss of throat sensation, loss of reflex swallowing . The brain will cause increased intracranial pressure: headache, vomiting, death if not handled promptly.

7. Metastasis

At the end of the cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer will invade the nasopharynx, palate, oral cavity, eye cavity invasion, squinting, protrusion, blindness . Nasopharyngeal cancer, distant metastasis in brain, bone , lungs, liver and other organs, especially in the lungs and bones, show that the disease has spread.

Mouth and throat cancer

When having oral sex, if your partner has HPV, you are at a high risk of spreading the disease, approximately 90%. However, it should be noted that not everyone with HPV in humans develops into cancer immediately and the virus will live in the body, waiting for the weakened immune system to cause disease. According to scientists, mouth and throat cancer is caused mainly by strains of HPV 16 and 18, HPV strains that cause disease in the genital tract.

Some symptoms and warnings of oropharyngeal cancer are pain in the ear, persistent cough, prolonged sore throat, neck nodules can be palpable and visible, the block in the mouth and the back of the throat, change of voice, weight loss without resolution like, hard to swallow . Young people, especially men, should be screened for throat cancer every 6 months and vaccinated to prevent diseases caused by HPV.

Dr. Ngoc Minh noted, the early detection of nasopharyngeal cancer and throat and throat cancer is relatively easy. Should be aware of the disease, you should see an ear, nose and throat specialist or an oncologist when you have unusual symptoms of an ear, nose and throat that usually does not cure.